Rusch, D. (2013). Building on the capacity of community-based organizations to meet the SEL needs of
youth from Latino immigrant families. AERA Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Special Interest Group
(SIG) Fall Newsletter.

Dana Rusch, Ph.D

Visiting Research Assistant Professor

Dr. Rusch has an overarching interest in addressing mental health disparities among ethnic minority youth and families living in urban poverty. Her specific program of research focuses on meeting the mental health needs of youth from Latino immigrant families, with attention to ecological context in the design and implementation of mental health service models. This research aims to build upon community resources and workforce strengths through collaborative partnerships with non-specialty settings (e.g., schools, community-based organizations, after-school programs) and the non-traditional providers that play a critical role in family engagement and advocacy. Through her efforts to design relevant and sustainable mental health services, Dr. Rusch has collaborated with the Chicago Public Schools, the Chicago Park District, and various community-based organizations serving Latino/immigrant families throughout the city.

Dr. Rusch received her B.A. in Psychology from Rutgers University (1999) and her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Illinois at Chicago (2011). She completed her pre-doctoral clinical internship in Child Clinical and Pediatric Psychology at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago (2008-2009) and continued her postdoctoral training at IJR with Dr. Atkins’ team at the Center for Community-Based Children’s Mental Health Research and Policy . From 2009-2013, she also served as Project Director for an NIMH-funded R01 (PI: S. Frazier) that examined the role of organizational social context on children’s mental health promotion through after-school program participation.

Interests:

Mental health services research for children in urban poverty Effective models of community-based mental health services for youth from Latino immigrant families Immigrant family context, acculturative stress, and mental health Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) to build models of mental health promotion for immigrant youth and families